100 miles for fish and chips…

So Sharon woke up this morning and says:
“I want to feel the wind in my hair, and walk along the shore.”
I looked at her. “It’s minus 2 Centigrade.” I protested. “And the lake is a bit manky”

“But I want to feel the sand beneath my feet…”
I reminded her that we do in fact live 160km [that’s about 100 miles in the old money] inland.

“…and have fish and chips for lunch. F r e s h fish and chips.”
Ah, now THAT was the right thing to say. The best fish and chips on this side of Australia is in Bateman’s Bay, on the New South Wales coast. And it would be warmer on the coast.

What followed was a small flurry of activity – Sharon packing drawing gear and me, my camera and a few kilos of lenses. The car didn’t bend too much when we finally got it loaded.

Should be about a two hour drive with a quick shimmy down the mountain, a sharp right over the bridge and left onto the beach.

Two hours later, after traversing two patches of dirt road, and three sets of 40kph road works – devoid of any actual road workers – we were at a complete standstill halfway down Clyde Mountain. For an hour.

It seems that the truck driver who was trying to get home quick before he had an accident, ran out of road before he ran out of corner. He was fine, but his semi-trailer needed to have the round wheel bits vertical, and on the bottom, not horizontal and on the side.

Truck accident

And so to Bateman’s Bay. The last time we ate at the Boathouse, there was a friendly manta ray swimming beneath the jetty. This time we had a pair of pelicans. It took some time to be served, so Sharon went ahead to find a table – and perhaps a little time to sketch.

Pelicans

Pelican

Pelican – compact travel version

At length, I found that Sharon held a prime spot on the waters edge – first sitting in one place, then when someone moved, so did Sharon, until like a well crafted chess game she had reached the prime spot she now occupied.

Fish and chips

I asked how the sketch went and Sharon looked a bit sheepish. “They moved.” she said simply, and shrugged. Clearly that explained everything.

The view across the bay was stunning

Bateman’s Bay

When we emerged from the cafe the road was closed – it seems that a car rally was on its way and the inflatable finish line was being erected across the road.

We didn’t hang around, but headed off further down the coast to Broulee where the beach sand is fine and the familiar dire warnings against swimming filled the entire billboard – beware of rips, swift currents, sudden drops in the ground, sudden shallow bits, rough surf (I’ve never seen gentle surf), and if you survive the water, there’s always the manta rays, sharks, jellyfish – to add a little excitement to any paddle. We like to remind visitors that ‘Pandora’ – the planet of David Cameron’s epic movie Avatar – is where Australians go for rest and relaxation…

Beach safety sign

As for the beach itself there’s no vehicles, no camping, no horses and no fires. Ah a truly welcoming place. it was quite busy – so you could almost see from one family group to the next, and so on to the horizon. The sky was clear, and the sun surprisingly warm. I remembered a lighting trick from photographer Karl Taylor – and arranged the sun to highlight Sharon’s hair and used the flash to provide fill light for her face – I was quite pleased with the result – despite the lack of wind 🙂

Sharon

The light through the seaweed was quite magic

Seaweed

It being Winter, and close to the shortest day we decided to pack up and head home before we’d have to do the Clyde Mountain drive in the dark. We remembered the rally cars that would be coming the opposite direction, and as the last of the light disappeared we headed into Braidwood. The bakery supplied much needed bread and delicious country-baked cakes called lamingtons – a sponge coated in chocolate and coconut – very yummy 🙂

And thence to home. Yep – just a quick run down to get some fish and chips and a good time was had by all… unless you’re a truck driver. 🙂

Many thanks for the lovely comment Mary – yes we need to get to the coast more often, it is very picturesque 🙂 And I love the pelicans – ungainly on land and graceful in flight they are a constant source of amusement. And of course good fish and chips is well worth the drive 🙂

Oh, oh, oh, what a lovely written post – I was laughing out loud – we on our vacation island – swimming 3 minutes in cold Adriatic seawater, 19°. Outside 24°. Where we are at home – in Germany – there have been 38° – everything is turned around.
Oh yes, and I loved to see well highlighted Sharon – and I am thinking of her stitching advices – they have a face now. The travel version pelican – is so so funny.

Jerry – thanks for the beautifully written post – almost as good as being there! Made me realize how much I take for granted the beauty of living on the Gulf Coast of Florida, near Tampa Bay.(90 degrees Fahrenheit today). Seeing things through the eyes of artists like you and Sharon make them look different; more special. Please write more often!

Thanks Kathy for your lovely comment 🙂 One thing I have learned since taking up photography is to look at the familiar in new ways. Everywhere is special in its own way and the more we travel, the more this is confirmed 🙂